


Squashing Bugs

by Cielestine_de_Winter



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fix-It, Good Loki, Loki-centric, Science Bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-05-11
Packaged: 2018-03-30 00:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3915601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cielestine_de_Winter/pseuds/Cielestine_de_Winter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the baddie of the week inadvertently gets out of hand, it's up to Loki to remind Thor that battles aren't just a matter of muscle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Squashing Bugs

**Author's Note:**

> This is the beginning of a few different story arcs, mostly Loki-centric. Just testing the water to see if I'm too crazy!

                Tony’s thoughts strayed to his last memory of Pepper as the pain ripped through his side. The delicate electrodes from the metal gash in his suit were shooting electricity through his wounds making the agonizing pain just that much worse. His blood flowed from his side, stealing his breath as the insect like Caldorians surrounded him. “Well, it was fun while it lasted,” Tony thought, refusing to give in to his blind terror.

                The fight was horrific, the Caldorians swarmed them quickly. The Hulk was the first to fall. The insects injected him with their powerful sedative that caused the Hulk to transform back to Banner. Tony didn’t know when the others fell, but he knew he didn’t have very much time.

                Tony turned his head and caught a glimpse of Thor’s blood soaked face. Like the rest of the group, Thor had been struck with the same sedative making him sloppy and sluggish. The Caldorians toyed with him, scratching his golden skin. Two of them were entwined in his hair as he fell to his knees. Time slowed for Tony and he took a breath to call out when a green light surrounded Thor, dissolving the Caldorians.

                The green light enveloped him and Tony lost consciousness.

 

                “Would it really do you harm to gain intelligence about your adversary before rushing into battle?” Loki hissed angrily.

                Tony opened his eyes and looked up. He could see Loki’s angry face looming over him. Tony’s body flashed hot then cold with fear, his heart racing. Loki looked down, his lips twisted in an angry frown. Tony looked through the monitors of his face plate and was fascinated by the emotions that flew across the pale god’s face as he waited for him to finish him off. Loki’s eyes didn’t focus on Tony’s and Tony realized that Loki couldn’t tell that he was awake. Tony didn’t move.

                “They came at us quickly, Brother.” Thor scoffed. “There was no time for _books_!” Thor wasn’t in his line of sight.

                Loki looked murderous. “There is always time to make sure you are prepared for battle!” Loki hissed. “One day you will be King of Asgard! You cannot rush into every battle hoping that your forces will prevail blindly! You must take the time and get to know your enemy.” Loki took a breath, and Tony felt his side get cold.

                Suddenly Tony realized that he wasn’t in any kind of pain. Even his mind melting headache from the morning was gone. Tony risked glancing down ever so slightly and caught sight of Loki’s fingers gently pulling out the twisted metal of his suit out of his bleeding side.

                Tony blinked at the unreality of it all.

                “I will always prevail,” Thor said stubbornly.

                Loki looked up from Tony’s side and glared. “At what cost, Thor?” Loki looked back down and finished pulling out another metal sliver. “Asgard? Your friends?” Loki took a breath and lay his hands on Tony’s bleeding skin. He whispered a few words and the skin quickly healed itself. “My hawk could have been blinded today. A few more minutes and I would have been too late.”

                “I can not stop time like you, Loki,” Thor shrugged. Tony caught sight of movement and looked over without moving his head. Thor was dressed in a white tee shirt and jeans. His blond locks were wet at the tips, evidence that he had taken a shower.

                Loki was looking at the handful of scraps from Tony’s suit that he had pulled from Tony’s side. “This is ridiculous,” he murmured. “If you don’t have time, find someone who does and ask him or her.”

                “And who would do that for me?” Thor took a sip from a large tankard he was holding.

                “You are the crown prince of Asgard! You could order some scholar to do your research for you!” Loki shouted.

                “There is no one who could research so quickly.” Thor said calmly.

                “I am going to seriously murder you,” Loki snarled. “I can think of dozens of beings who could do that. Two of whom I you know well!” Loki ground the shards of suit in his hands.

                “Who?” Thor didn’t sound particularly upset or alarmed. Tony suddenly wondered what Thor was up to. Tony knew that Thor routinely acted much denser than he really was. It was… entertaining to see him wind up his brother.

                “Father, Heimdal,” Loki studied the hole in Tony’s suit.

                “And you,” Thor observed lightly. “You could probably do it.”

                “My time would be better spent transitioning that knowledge to Stark’s guardian,” Loki said thoughtfully. “I probably should have done this before, but I shudder to think what reason you would have come up with to explain Jarvis’s new found knowledge.”

                “I wouldn’t have said anything, they would not suspect me of anything relating to _knowledge_.” Thor smiled. “But your plan is flawed. The universe is always changing. Jarvis would require constant information to stay current.”

                Loki put his hands over the holes in Tony’s suit and the particles of Tony suit magically filled the holes. Loki closed his eyes and frowned. Suddenly Tony’s suit powered on with full power. Tony stayed still. Loki opened his eyes and looked down. “Concentric circles of knowledge, Thor,” Loki said as though it were obvious. “I could inform him of beings that could travel to this tiny corner within a span of millennia from the inward out over and over. They need not be bothered by anything outside the span. It would take too long for it to travel to Midgard.” Loki suddenly looked up at Thor. “But I’m not going to do it.”

                “Then join us.”

                Tony was certain that he heart just stopped. He knew that Thor had an unhealthy regard for his brother, but _join us_? Really?!

                Loki laughed. “You can not manipulate me so easily, Brother.”

                “You just told me that I needed to research before rushing into battle.”

                “I am not your personal archivist,” Loki said primly. “And there would be no possibility I would be accepted as an Avenger or by Shield.”

                “I think you are wrong.”

                “Then you are a fool.”

                “One day you will rule at my side.”

                Loki rolled his eyes. “Don’t start this, Brother.”

                “You are more than my brother.”

                “I try to kill you and your allies on a regular basis.”

                “No, you come to spar with us on a regular basis,” Thor corrected him. “If you wanted us dead, we would be dead.”

                Loki suddenly made eye contact with Stark. “Will you talk some sense into him?” Loki demanded.

                There was a brief paused before Tony frowned. “Oh, you were talking to me?” Came his glib response. “You have to excuse me. I thought I was hallucinating.”

                “Here, sit up,” Loki said helping him up. Tony wasn’t sure how not surprised he was that he didn’t feel the slightest bit tired or strained. Whatever Loki did was better than any drug or food or… Tony stopped that line of thought and started looking from Thor to Loki, back to Thor.

                “Hey Thor, why is our arch enemy, your batshit insane brother healing us?” Tony asked. “No offense,” he said looking at Loki.

                Loki smirked. “I am healing you because I have need of you.” Loki stood up. “I was able to pull you and your friends from the Caldorians before they tried to consume you...”

                Tony flipped his face plate up. “ _Consume_ us?” he said interrupting the dark haired god.

                Loki rolled his eyes. “They are insects, Stark. That’s what they do.”

                “That’s not all they do, Brother,” Thor said sipping his drink.

                Loki closed his eyes and took a breath. “Do you want to dispel the Caldorians or would you rather them continue scavenging your realm?” he snarled.

                “Of course we want your help,” Thor said raising his hands with his tankard. “I am sorry. I will stop interrupting you.” He quickly glanced at Tony and very quickly winked.

                Loki glared at him for a moment before turning to Stark. “As I was saying, the Caldorians are insects and communicate through a hive mind. If we can transmit a sound wave that cancels out their frequency, they will be unable to communicate and very much unable to think. We use that advantage to go after the queen and her solders. We then can use the sound waves to direct the Caldorians into the nearest volcano.”

                “I think I’m hard. You just gave me an erection.” Tony grinned, impressed. He jumped off the infirmary bed and walked to the door, somehow not surprised that they were in the supposing impenetrable Avenger’s Tower in New York. “Talk dirty to me some more.” He said leading them to his lab. “Do you know the frequency?”

                Loki rolled his eyes. “Of course I do, Stark. But I can’t make that sound, nor can I transmit it.”

                “Maybe we should get Banner down here to help us.”

                “Banner was injected with a considerable amount of toxin as were the rest of your allies. They didn’t have your armor,” Loki said slowing down. “But if you check on Banner, I will have enough time to check on Barton and Romanov.” Loki stopped and nodded to Tony. “I will meet you in your lab in 10 minutes. Call me if you need anything.” With that, Loki disappeared.

                Tony looked at Thor. “Fabio, what are we doing?” Tony said folding his arms in front of him and looking at Thor.

                “We are going to check on Banner,” Thor said with a confused smile. “Aren’t we?”

                Tony sighed. “Jarvis?”

                “Yes, sir,” Jarvis answered immediately.

                “There seemed to be a crazy maniac loose in my tower. Do you care to explain why?”

                “Mr. Laufeyson appeared with each of the Avengers in their room. You all seemed to need his aid rather urgently. And Thor vouched for him.”

                Tony flashed Thor a quick glare and started toward Banner’s room. “Why is he even here? I thought he was rotting in some Asgardian prison.”

                Thor didn’t say anything.

                “He did go to prison when you brought him to Asgard, right? Like your dad did punish him, right, Thor?” Tony realized that he had never actually asked Thor what happened after he returned with Loki to Asgard. He just assumed…”You just let him go?”

                Thor looked surprised. “No,” he said very soberly. “Loki is punished. Rest assured Man of Iron, that the price he is paying for his actions is one that is very high.”

                “What, Daddy take away his pony?” Tony asked bitterly, knocking on Banner’s door.

                Thor flashed Tony such a hurt look, that Tony felt a moment of guilt. The he remembered New York and the weeks of nightmares he had afterward and suddenly felt a spike of anger course through him. “You know what? Fuck this. We had an understanding, Thor. Loki was going to stand trial and pay for what he did. He’s going to atone for those people he killed.”

                “Who did he kill?” Thor asked very slowly and very softly.

                “Kill? He killed hundreds in the Battle of New York. You remember, the giant Chituari army? New York, my building getting trashed?”

                “How many Midgardians fell that day?” Thor asked. “What is the number?”

                Tony couldn’t believe Thor was pressing the issue. Hundreds, if not thousands of people died at Loki’s whim. “Jarvis, can you tell Erik the Red here how many people died in the Battle of New York?”

                “Yes, there were no causalities in the Battle of New York.”

                “What?” Tony frowned. “You must be wrong. Get Fury on the line. Bruce?” Tony called in Bruce’s sitting room. The place was very neat.

                “He’s in the bedroom,” Thor offered.

                Tony scowled at Thor. He crossed over to Banner’s bedroom door and knocked. “Stark!” Fury’s voice was sharp. “Where in the hell are you?”

                “I’m at Stark tower, thanks to our new favorite Asgardian god.”

                “What in the hell… LOKI?” Fury swore colorfully. “What is the situation?”

                “Thor’s compromised, no big surprise there.” Tony refused to acknowledge Thor’s sudden frown. Tony opened the door and sat on Bruce’s bed that nudged him. Bruce’s breath didn’t even hitch. “Banner’s out. I’m betting the others are too.” Tony sat down on Bruce’s bed and looked thoughtfully at Bruce. “But Loki has a plan that sounds like it’s going to work. Give us a few hours. I’ll let you know how it goes.” Tony pushed a lock of hair out of Bruce’s face.

                “Do you remember the part where Loki almost wiped New York off the map?” Fury swore.

                “Yea, about that, how many causalities were there?” Tony asked.

                “What?” Fury asked.

                “How many casualties were there in New York?” Tony asked again. “Come on, I need a number.”

                “I don’t…” Tony heard Fury murmur something to someone else. There was a pause, and Tony could here Fury exclaim something. “Look, I’ll get you the number. But can we please focus on the current problem.”

                “Sure thing, Mad Eye Moody. I’ll work with Loki and get this situation buttoned down. But at the debrief, I’m going to need that number.” He disconnected the phone and stood up. “Jarvis. I think your memory has been compromised like Blondie here. I want you to research every hospital admit after the battle and tell me everything you can about them. Especially pay attention to people who died. Also, do a run on the cost of damages. We can tally that up as well,” he said turning back to Thor.

                “And research the Aesir Foundation,” Thor offered to Jarvis.

                “What is the Aesir Foundation?” Tony asked suspiciously.

                Thor smiled. “Your answer will be in the research Jarvis uncovers.”

                Tony swore and stood. “You seem awfully sure of yourself.”

                Thor shrugged. “My brother would counsel that if you asked the right questions, you would get the information you need.”

                “And let me guess, I’ve just asked the right question,” Tony said sarcastically while leading Thor to his lab. “If there’s something there, why didn’t you just tell us?”

                “Once you get your answers, you’ll understand.” Thor said quietly. They entered the lab and Tony looked around. “Loki might be a little late. He was very concerned with Barton. The Caldorians somehow blinded the man. Loki was afraid that he would be unable to undue their poison.”

                “I wasn’t afraid,” Loki denied appearing in the middle of the lab. Thor flashed Tony a small smirk. Loki rolled his eyes. “Come, Stark. We have a lot to do and little time to accomplish it.

                So they got to work. Loki, Tony learned, was a snarky bastard that had him laughing more than he thought possible in their ridiculous race against time. Loki seemed to be an endless fount of bits of information and points of view that amazed and astounded Tony. There were moments when Loki looked so young and the darkness that Tony associated with him disappeared. Tony couldn’t help but start liking the god.

                “Short blasts,” Loki insisted.

                “Why not just play the sound constantly?” Tony asked tinkering with the amplifier. “It’s well above human hearing.”

                “You are not the only creatures on this realm, Stark,” Loki sighted. “The distortion of the sound wave creates a sound underwater that will bother certain members of the Tetris genus of fish.”

                Tony stopped what he was doing and looked at Loki. “How do you even know that?”

                “Because it’s fascinating,” Loki said shrugging. “Your realm has such riches that you are blind to.”

                “Is that why you want to rule the world?” Tony asked lightly.

                Loki smiled. “To rule the world is such a species-ist phrase, don’t you think? If I rule the humans, I doubt I could subjugate the rest of the races in your world. Like cats. I would never be able to rule the world of cats.”

                “Why would you want to?” Tony asked.

                “Because cats are capable of the highest degree of sass,” Loki smiled. “Humans have their sarcasm, cats have their sass. It’s vastly entertaining. Are you done?”

                Tony wiped his hand on a rag and nodded. “Yep. You have sass, you could be the king of cats.”

                Loki smiled. “I will take that as a compliment. I’ll go see where my wayward brother went to and we can finish this.”

                “Want me to wake the others?”

                Loki frowned, he became transparent for a second, then turned back to Tony. “Rogers is close to consciousness. Perhaps he can aid us.”

                “I’ll go…” Loki reached out and touched Tony, and suddenly Tony was standing in front of Steve’s door, alone. “Thanks for the ride, Nightcrawler,” he mumbled before knocking on Steve’s door. He knocked again a few minutes later.

                Tony considered opening the door, but then he heard Steve’s steady footsteps on the other side. The door opened, and Tony wished for one moment that Steve wasn’t as attractive as he was. “How you feeling Cap?” he asked.

                “Was Loki here?” Cap asked.

                “Yes, and he’s got a plan. You up for going back out there?”

                Steve nodded and followed Tony to the elevator. “How are the others?”

                “Thor’s fine, but everyone else is out for the count.”

                “What’s the plan?” Steve asked.

                Tony opened the door to his lab and Steve looked past him to see Loki and Thor in their battle armor standing in the middle of Tony’s lab. Steve brought his shield in front of him and tensed as he watched Loki manipulate a set of daggers in his long, pale fingers. Loki turned to him and the daggers disappeared. “Hello, Rogers.”

                “Loki,” Steve said nodding his head just slightly.

                Tony patted his arm and walked over to his worktable. “As Cap asked, what’s the plan?”

                Steve frowned at Tony’s nonchalance.

                “You may want to call Fury in on this as that we may need him,” Loki said to Tony.

                Tony quickly dialed in to wherever Fury was. “What in the hell is taking you so long?” Fury demanded.

                “I think we have a solution,” Tony said, motioning to Loki.

                Loki glanced at Thor. “Stark and I have a number of transmitters that can herd the Caldorians, but if we are going to the asteroid where the Queen resides, we can not herd them.”

                “So you need me to herd the Caldorians somewhere while you go to an asteroid and do what exactly?”

                “We are going to kill the queen and her solders.” Loki answered. Thor nodded. “The queen can lay several million eggs in a single day. If we don’t stop her you will never be rid of them. And her solders will give their lives to defend her. That is what they do.”

                “Who’s ‘we’?” Fury demanded.

                “Oh just, me, Cap, Thor and the Amazing Randy,” Tony called.

                Loki turned to Steve. “I can create a barrier around you that will may you impervious to their stingers.”

                Steve looked at him for a second, then nodded. “Okay, let’s get this started. How are we going to get the transmitters to…”

                Loki suddenly disappeared. As did the transmitters. Suddenly Fury started swearing. “What in the…” Suddenly Loki was standing in front of them again.

                “Okay,” Tony said looking at Loki suspiciously.

                “You should announce yourself, brother,” Thor admonished.

                “You’re no fun,” Loki said with a slight smile.

                “We have the transmitters, damn it,” Fury snarled. “Don’t do that again!”

                “When can you have those things mounted on the planes?” Steve asked.

                “Give me twenty minutes,” Fury answered. He paused for a minute. “And then what?”

                “Direct them to the nearest active volcano. Even their hard outer shells won’t be able to withstand those temperatures.” Loki answered.

                “Great,” Fury snarled. “I’ve got your number, Stark. Believe it or not, it’s zero.”

                Stark looked at Loki. “Huh, interesting. Well, talk later, yea?” From behind Loki, Thor smiled.

                “Fury out.”

                Loki walked up to Steve. Steve lowered his shield. “This will tickle at first.” Loki quickly mumbled and touched a finger to Steve’s forehead. Steve tensed, but Loki quickly stepped away. Steve’s body ran cool for a second and then nothing. “There.” Loki turned to Thor and did the same to him.

                “You hardly need protect me,” Thor boomed.

                “Don’t make me brain you with your own hammer,” Loki snapped. He glanced at Tony. “Your armor will protect you almost as well as I can. Try though not to get hit with your own missile this time.”

                “Sure thing, Hiccup,” Tony smiled. He was wearing a new armor, one with a much thicker protective shield. “Now are we flying or taking the…” Suddenly they were surrounded by ice and cold. Tony shivered as it took the suit a few seconds to heat itself. He glanced over and noticed Steve looking at himself. Loki’s green energy shimmered slightly over the man. “Cold?”

                “No,” Steve said looking impressed.

                “Do you want a barrier, Stark?” Loki’s brow was just slightly wrinkled, as though he hadn’t realized that Tony would have been affected by the cold and now regretted his mistake.

                “No, I’m good, Frosted Flakes.” Tony said he turned to Steve. “So where’s… Woah!” he said catching sight of the large black rock half buried in the ice. “How did we not notice this?” he asked.

                “It’s been here for a while. Because of the temperature change due to global warming, the Caldorians just came out of hibernation,” Loki said walking over to it.

                The rock was half as big as the Avenger’s Tower in New York and was almost spherical. There were a multitude of openings that ranged from a few feet to the size of elevator doors.

                “Loki, do those tunnels narrow?” Steve asked.

                “No, but I wouldn’t want to get trapped in there. Once the sound wave hits, I can freeze the rock and you can shatter it with your shield. The Caldorians will be disorganized and possibly incapacitated.”

                “Can you really freeze things that cold?” Tony exclaimed.

                “I am a frost giant,” Loki said shrugging.

                Tony glanced at Thor, unsure of what that meant. Thor looked surprised and couldn’t seem to tear his eyes from Loki. “You do not sound angered by your parentage.” He said in a cautiously happy tone.

                Loki looked at Thor. “Would being angry about it change it?”

                Thor suddenly clasped his hand on Loki’s shoulder. “You will always be my family,” Thor swore.

                Loki looked at him with a frown. “Do you really want to do this now?”

                Thor pulled Loki into a tight hug then let him go quickly. He turned to the Captain. “And what would you have us do?”

                Steve turned to the very embarrassed looking Loki. “Can you find a way of plugging all the holes on the Asteroid?”

                “Yes,” Loki answered.

                “Great. Let’s get to this.” Cap said walking up to the rock.

 

                The battle went as smoothly as Loki planned. Steve and Tony were a little concerned when Loki turned a delicate blue, but Thor’s eyes were riveted on the trickster. Loki ignored him and the others and murmured a few words then touched the rock with his blue hands. For a moment it didn’t seem like anything was happening, but then they started to see Caldorians crowd each of the transparently green seals covering the asteroid. The rock started cracking loudly. Steve readied, but Loki continued touching the rock. Tony finally had to step away, the coldness of what Loki was doing was making the air too cold for his suit to keep up. Finally Loki pulled his hands away from the rock and looked at Steve.

                Steve took a running jump and smashed the rock. The rock shattered into tiny pieces. The Caldorian’s, severely injured by both the cold and Steve’s attack, and unable to communication because of the sound waves that Tony was transmitting fought valiantly, but were fairly easy to defeat.

                Tony flew up high into the air and batted away the few airborne Caldorian’s left and watched Thor and Loki fight back to back. He could appreciate Thor’s prowess in battle. The huge god was obviously made for it. But watching him fight with Loki was like watching a tightly choreographed dance. They both had a level of grace that Tony envied. Thor’s hammer and Loki’s daggers flew out, decimating their enemies. Seeing everything pretty much under control Tony flew over to Steve.

                “Looks like we have this pretty well wrapped up,” Tony said helping Steve polish off the last Caldorian around him. “Thor and Loki are going after the queen, but it doesn’t look that that’s going to take very long.”

                “Why exactly is Loki helping us?” Steve asked.

                Tony shrugged. “No idea. Here’s an interesting bit of trivia, Thor wants him to join the Avengers.”

                “What?” Steve exclaimed.

                “Yea, crazy, right?” Tony said. He caught sight of Thor bringing down the thunder and slamming into the queen.

                “I thought he was in Asgard,” Steve commented.

                “Yea, me too. Jarvis, patch us unto Fury.”

                “Yes, sir,” Jarvis answered.

                “What’s your situation?” Fury demanded.

                “We’re just about done here,” Steve answered as Loki and Thor walked around talking and making sure that all the Caldorians were dead. “What is yours?”

                “The transmitters worked. We’re just making passes over the rest of the world to make sure there aren’t any others lingering somewhere. I am pleasantly surprised that there wasn’t more of a fight.”

                “Yea, well, I guess that’s what happened when you have the right tools for the job,” Tony said cryptically. Steve glanced at Tony, and Tony just waved away his question. “Hey, let’s wait for the others to wake up and then we’ll debrief, okay? I think it may be a few hours before their back with us.”

                “0900 tomorrow,” Fury agreed, then disconnected.

                “So, what do you think the price of Loki’s assistance will be?” Tony asked lightly. He watched as Thor laughed at something Loki had said. Loki glanced at Thor with a slight smile.

                “I don’t know,” Steve said frowning. “I just hope it’s something we can afford.” They watched Loki and Thor for a moment more before Thor lead Loki to them.

                “This skirmish is done,” Thor announced. “We are victorious. We should return home and celebrate.”

                “You’re just hungry,” Loki said in a dismissive voice. There was a flicker and suddenly they were all back in Tony’s lab.

                “I admit that I would enjoy a meal,” Thor said with a smile.

                Loki studied him for a moment. “Oh, no. Don’t you start with me,” he said backing up.

                “Start what?” Tony asked as Thor’s smile grew.

                “Come, brother, with all the magic you’ve used, you must be hungry as well,” Thor said not breaking eye contact with Loki. “And we have a very advanced kitchen. You would enjoy working in it.”

                “No,” Loki frowned, folding his arms in front of him.

                Thor turned to Steve. “Rogers, are you not hungry? Shouldn’t we celebrate this victory?”

                “Um… Sure,” Steve said looking from Thor to Loki.

                Loki suddenly frowned and his eyes went out of focus. “Banner is regaining consciousness. He will be a little disoriented and…”

                “Hungry.” Thor broke in.

                Loki glared at him. “AND would probably benefit from someone explaining the situation to him.”

                “Thor, are you suggesting that Loki join us to get something to eat?” Tony asked.

                “No, he wants me to cook for you,” Loki said sourly when Thor smiled brightly.

                “You will? Excellent! Come Stark, let’s go awaken Banner!” Thor said clasping Tony on the shoulder and quickly leading him out of the lab.

                “Thor!” Loki called, but Thor was already gone with Tony. He sighed and looked at Rogers. “He always does this,” Loki complained. “Sometimes it’s easy to forget who’s the adult here.”

                Steve looked at Loki, slightly unsure. “Thank you for your help against the Caldorians,” he said, figuring it would be best to be appreciative of the fickle god.

                Loki shrugged and started walking toward the door. “I wouldn’t be able to live with the shame if you were defeat by insects.” Loki said dryly.

                Steve followed him to the kitchen. He automatically sat down at one of the barstools in front of the large granite island. Loki opened the refrigerator and hummed. He closed the door and murmured some words. He opened it again, and Steve could see that the empty refrigerator was suddenly filled with food. Loki pulled out some orange juice and took out a glass. He poured the juice then set it in front of Steve before turning back to the refrigerator.

                Steve looked at the juice for a minute before reaching down and taking a sip. “You will have to make do with blueberry pancakes.” Loki announced. He quickly pulled out the ingredients. Steve watched him, drinking what could have been the best orange juice he had ever had.

                “I haven’t had blueberry pancakes in years,” Steve said thoughtfully.

                Loki hummed and put on some bacon. He then looked at himself, then the pan. Loki shimmered and was suddenly wearing dark trousers, a white button shirt and a green vest. Over the clothes, Loki was wearing a white apron. His shirt sleeves were folded up showing his thin forearm. Steve itched to get his sketchpad and pencils. Loki’s wrists were graceful and delicate, his fingers long and elegantly tapered.

                “Then it is time you had some,” Loki quickly mixed up the batter and started a set on a fry pan Steve didn’t even know they owned.

                “We don’t really cook,” Steve said suddenly. “Bruce did at first for a little while, but he would go to the market and buy food only to have it rot because he’d get busy. Now we eat takeout that a Shield agent brings us.”

                Loki turned from turning the bacon to look at Steve. “That solves the mystery as to why my brother thinks Poptarts are a wondrous culinary creation.” He quickly plated the pancakes and put a few pieces of bacon on the plate and handed it to Steve. Steve’s mouth watered embarrassingly. Loki handed him a napkin, fork and knife and magicked some real maple syrup and butter. “Mother is worried about him.”

                Steve took a bite of the pancake and moaned accidentally. They were amazing. “Wow.” He said taking another bite.

                Loki turned back around and made another set.

                Just as Loki loaded up his third set Thor, Tony, and Bruce walked into the kitchen. Thor smiled brilliantly and took the plate from Loki before bumping him with his arm. Loki gave him a withering look and started the coffee in Tony’s ridiculously expensive coffee maker that no-one, not even Tony knew how to use.

                Bruce watched Loki carefully while Tony looked at Steve.

                “You need to try these,” Steve said, already finishing up his.

                Tony rolled his eyes, but took plate from Thor. Bruce took the rest and sat down next to Tony. “Would you like some more?” Loki asked Steve.

                Steve smiled. “Please.”

                Loki turned back to the frypan.

                “So, Tony and Thor tell me that you were the reason behind our victory against the Caldorians.” Bruce said quietly.

                Loki glanced at him before going into the fridge and pulling out a small earthen wear pitcher. He grabbed a juice glass and set the pitcher and glass down in front of Bruce. Bruce watched him calmly. Loki flashed a daring smiled, then went to the fridge and pulled out a large tankard and put it in front of Thor. Thor smiled his thanks and took a sip.

                “It was nothing. How are you feeling?” Loki asked, his body half turned between looking at Bruce and watching the pancakes.

                “Good,” Bruce licked his lips and watched as Tony hummed loudly and rolled his eyes into his head dramatically.

                “My mouth is having a party right now,” Tony announced. Loki handed him a cup of coffee. Tony took a sip and made a vaguely obscene noise. “Marry me!”

                “Stark,” Thor said sternly.

                “I’m afraid that would interfere with my megalomaniac urges,” Loki said with a straight face.

                Thor laughed. The others looked at each other nervously. Bruce finally took hold of the pitcher and poured some orange color juice into the juice glass. He sniffed it before taking a small sip. His eyes popped and he took a larger sip. “This is excellent! What is it?”

                “It’s four fruit juice,” Loki said, putting another set on Steve’s plate. “They serve it at Disney World.”

                “You’ve been to Disney World?” Tony asked.

                Loki smiled. “It is impressive the amount of mischief a person can do in the happiest place on earth.”

                “You should eat, Brother,” Thor said suddenly.

                Loki nodded and made himself a plate and put the rest of the bacon on another plate and put it in front of the others.

                Tony grabbed another piece. “Did you rides the rides?”

                “Of course,” Loki gave him an ‘silly mortal’ look. “I found Tower of Terror to be my favorite.”

                “Huh,” Tony said taking another sip of coffee thoughtfully.

                “Where is this place?” Thor asked, slightly suspiciously.

                “It’s just a place that I’ve been to, Thor,” Loki said wearily. He took a bite of his pancakes and then went and got himself a glass of milk.

                “Have you been to Disney Sea in Japan?” Bruce asked, taking another sip of juice. “They’re supposed to have a big section for Halloweentown in the Fall.” He studied Loki.

                Loki’s pale cheeks reddened and he smiled. “I have and they do. It was glorious.” He frowned and looked at Bruce questioningly.

                “Clint hadn’t seen the movie before… New York. Afterward he went out and bought it, sight unseen, something very rare for him according to Natasha. It’s now one of his favorite movies.” Bruce finished up his pancakes. “Since New York, he sometimes can guess what you’re thinking. At least on some level.”

                Loki’s smile faded and he put his fork down and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Well, thank you. It has been really lovely.” And he disappeared.

                “Brother!” Thor called. When Loki didn’t reappear, Thor frowned and glanced at Bruce slightly reproachfully.

                “What?” Bruce asked. “I was just testing a hypothesis.”

                “Thor, what was that all about?” Steve asked, grabbing another piece of bacon. “Why was he helping us?”

                “My friends, our battle was not going well,” Thor said seriously.

                “Loki was mad that you went up against the Caldorians without first knowing about them,” Tony said looking at Thor.

                “It is a common argument that we have,” Thor sighed. “He worries that one day we will not prevail.”

                “Well I think today’s that day,” Bruce said lightly. “From what you say, we wouldn’t have made it out of there if Loki hadn’t stepped in.”

                “What happened when Loki was brought back to Asgard?” Tony asked suddenly.

                Thor looked at his plate for a moment. “My brother and I had a disagreement a few years back. One that resulted in him falling from the shattered Bifrost bridge. I thought him dead.”

                “Yes, you told us about that. Loki wanted the throne, spoiled your party and razed a small town in New Mexico.” Tony said impatiently.

                “When I returned Loki to Asgard following the battle, I learned that parts of what happened, Loki killing Laufey, destroying the Chutari, were actually requests made by my father.”

                “Wait, isn’t Laufey, Loki’s father?” Bruce asked.

                Thor nodded, he looked ashamed. “My father… wanted to ensure Loki’s loyalty. They have a complicated relationship.”

                “How does that affect what happened in New York?” Steve asked.

                “After my brother fell, I thought him dead. My father, however, knew he lived. When my father caught sight of Thanos, who wielded the Chituari, he contacted Loki and told him to learn what he could about them. My brother had spent the time away from me in the home world of a foe not even Asgard would lightly provoke.” Thor’s expression was pained. “Then when my father learned that the tesseract was found here on Midgard, his bid Loki to retrieve it.”

                “How much of this did you know?” Tony asked, annoyed.

                Thor looked up. “None. My father did not share his plans for Midgard with me. I had blindly believed the falsehoods my brother spat, thinking them true, even as I knew him not to be that creature we fought.” Thor looked tired. “When I brought him before my father for judgment after the battle, my father punished Loki for allowing the Avengers to be formed and prevail.”

                “What does your father have against us?” Tony snapped.

                “He would see you weak and defenseless,” Thor answered. “Loki’s actions provoked you into becoming something of an ally to Asgard and thus, my father cannot attack you or try to subjugate you without losing honor.”

                Steve leaned forward. “Why would Loki do that?”

                “I cannot speak to Loki’s reasons. His mind is far a field from my understanding.” Thor admitted.

                “Loki did all that damage and killed all those people because…” Bruce frowned.

                “That’s the thing,” Tony interrupted him. “Guess how many people died in the Battle of New York!”

                “Zero,” Clint said from the doorway where he and Natasha stood.

                “Hey!” Bruce said smiling at them.

                Clint and Natasha walked over and took their stood at the kitchen island. “You made pancakes?” Natasha asked.

                “Loki did,” Steve said.

                “Thanks for saving us some,” Clint said with a slight smile showing that he was half kidding.

                “How’d you know that?” Tony asked.

                “I’m a solder,” Clint shrugged. “When you get ordered not to kill, you sort of take notice.”

                “What? So no one was killed?” Steve asked frowning.

                “Jarvis?” Tony called.

                “No, no one was killed on that day due to the battle.” Jarvis answered.

                “But Phil?” Steve disagreed.

                Tony and Thor looked at Natasha. Natasha cleared her throat. “Phil is alive. He’s working with another division of Shield while we try to figure out how Loki brought him back to life.”

                “And you never thought that might be something we should know?” Steve asked.

                Natasha shrugged.

                “And get this,” Tony said sipping his coffee. “All that damage? Every single company involved, Stark Industries included, where granted a “gift” from the Aesir Foundation equal to the amount of the damage.” Tony turned to Thor. “And when the Aesir Foundation isn’t handing out _Werengild_ , did I say that right, Thor?” Thor nodded. “It is funding environmental studies, expeditions, Save the Earth groupies.”

                “Okay?” Bruce said with a shrug.

                Tony looked at him with a smile. “Based on the fact that Odin clearly thinks that we are a waste of resources, I’m willing to be that it was either Thor or Loki who set up the Foundation, maybe both. I would have heard about it if Thor was involved, so I’m thinking it was Loki.”

                “Why would Loki do that?” Steve asked.

                “That is the question,” Tony said turning back to Thor. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

                “Loki asked me not to,” Thor admitted. “As that he isn’t doing harm, I agreed.”

                “He is very different now that he isn’t trying to invade earth,” Tony said thoughtfully.

                Thor didn’t respond.

                “What do you think, Legolas? Do you think Harry Potter’s on the up and up?” Tony asked Clint.

                “I can’t even begin to guess his motives in this one,” Clint shrugged.

                There was a pause, then Bruce took another sip of his juice. “So what now? Loki’s on our side?”

                “Being on our side might be a bit of a stretch,” Tony said watching Thor’s face carefully. “But I don’t think he’s really our enemy, is he, Thor?”

                Thor gave a slight smile. “He is not.”

                Clint gave an audible relieved sigh.

                “Great, then next time you crazy brothers get together for lunch, I want in,” Tony demanded.

                Thor frowned. “Did he tell you were lunched?” Thor asked, surprised.

                “He mentioned you a few times, Point Break, there’s not need to be surprised. You are his big brother.”

                Thor’s smile faded. “There are no true bonds that bind us.” Thor said mournfully. “He spends more time with his blood brothers now rebuilding Jotunheim. The day will come when he no longer has need of me.”

                The rest of the Avengers looked at each other confused. “Loki’s crazy about you,” Tony said finally. “He’s not going to suddenly forget about you, Thor.”

                Thor gave Tony a tight smile, “You are kind, Man of Iron. But come, let us talk of other topics. What shall we do today?”


End file.
